I am trying to secure a floating mantle shelf over a brick fireplace wall.
I used 2 3/4" 3/16 tapcon screws to secure the strip of wood to a brick wall but the wood strip did not hold securely
The tapcon 3/16" screws called for a 5/32 mortar bit hole which I used, but when I drilled the tapcon screws into the mortar they felt loose, as if the hole was too big.
Any guesses as to what might have gone wrong? Any suggestions as what type of fasteners would work better in securing the wood strip to the brick wall?
Best Answer
Tapconing into a mortar joint is to be avoided.
See the discussion here.
And the one here about how 3/16" are garbage. Use 1/4".